No to NATO! Report back from demo & counter-summit

CND and Stop the War joined forces to protest the NATO summit in December 2019, organizing a demo and counter-summit.

Protesters gathering in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday 4th December, and marched to Buckingham Palace, gaining significant media coverage. Al Jazeera quoted Kate Hudson in their report on the protest:

Kate Hudson, secretary-general of the London-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), also spoke out against Trump pressuring member states to plough more funds into defence, describing an "undermining of national sovereignty over public spending decisions".

Image: https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/03/protesters-nato-visit-warn-trump-take-hands-off-nhs-11264993/

A few days before, the New World Disorder: No to NATO counter-summit brought together international speakers including writer and broadcaster Tariq Ali, Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK, USA and Reiner Braun of the International Peace Bureau.

Tariq Ali stated ‘NATO is an offensive organisation, for which there is no real need whatsoever’, and recorded this short film for CND:

this is why we're protesting 👇👏#NoToNato pic.twitter.com/UEPZyeCQZI

— CND (@CNDuk) November 30, 2019

Workshops covered a wide variety of topics. Highlights included Conflicts, Climate Change and Militarisation, where panelists discussed how we organise for alternatives. Karl-Heinz Peil of the campaign Stop Air Base Ramstein, Germany, reported:

When we talk about the impact of the military on the environment, it’s not enough to talk about the greenhouse gasses troops emit, but to look at the entire industry - we can estimate that 15% of all industrial greenhouse gases are coming from the military.

Kurdish Activist Elif Sarakan spoke alongside Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK USA in the workshop titled Oil, War and the Middle East, analysing the latest developments. Chris Nineham of Stop the War was also on the panel:

The strategy has changed since the Iraq war - the West has moved towards creating alliances and proxy wars to keep on top of the region.

The closing panel outlined key actions to take forwards: link movements, keep lobbying, show how the money spent on war and weapons could go towards helping people and the environment.

Okinawa Prefecture does not want another U.S. military base.

Outside the subway in a Tokyo suburb, I saw a large group distributing flyers about the proposed military base in Henoko. I’d heard many speeches on the subject at the World Conference Against A&H Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki earlier in August. There, I’d picked up a copy of a publication titled ‘What Okinawa wants you to understand about the U.S. military bases’. 

‘Okinawa Prefecture understands the need for the Japan-U.S. security arrangement’ the publication begins. Yet, they ask, why must 70% of all military bases in Japan used exclusively by the U.S., be on Okinawa? They go on to describe the devastating affects the proposed base will have on an internationally precious subtropical sea area, rich in biodiversity, and the significant economic impact of housing another base on the Prefecture.

Okinawa Prefecture is composed of 150 islands between Taiwan and Japan's mainland. I had an opportunity to visit Naha, the capital of the Prefecture, and some of the nearby Kerama islands. The island of Aka was particularly spectacular – white sands, lush greenery, tropical fish in clear blue water. It was paradise. But a black dot appeared in the sky and the roar of a military airmobile – a huge vessel with two helicopter spinning motors and a body big enough to carry a bus. It flew low overhead, circling round us for an hour, creating a deafening din and large waves beneath. 

Back in Naha, travelling through the city, I noticed large fenced off quarters with military vehicles behind the gates, graveyards full of American names and an ‘American Village’ amusement park for workers at the bases. 

Okinawa Prefecture’s publication tells of the daily impact of living amongst the bases that Okinawans currently face. Osprey fly low over schools and hospitals at all hours, water has been contaminated from toxic leaks, and there have been over 5,000 arrests of U.S. military affiliated personnel, including horrific cases such as the abduction and rape of an elementary school girl by three U.S. soldiers in 1995 and rape resulting in death of an Okinawan woman by a U.S. military base civilian worker in 2016. After such crimes, as well as military accidents such as plane parts falling from the sky into school playgrounds, there is widespread distrust of the bases and there are frequent protests.

Time is running out to stop the proposed base in Henoko. The final communique of the World Conference Against A&H Bombs calls for international solidarity with the people of Okinawa. We must not let the U.S. turn more of this tropical paradise into a launchpad for their next war.

Article for London Region CND by Hannah Kemp-Welch

Introducing our student team

Welcome aboard Amber Goneni, who’s joined the London CND team as our Youth & Student rep. Amber’s taking a year’s sabbatical as University of the Arts London’s Campaigns Officer. Amber’s full of ideas for the months ahead, so watch this space for news. Amber joins Nobu Ono who runs the CND Society at SOAS and helps organise London CND’s annual conference in January each year, and both are working with Ben to expand CND’s reach among the capital’s students.

Amber Goneni (UAL)

Nobu Ono (SOAS)